Gai Yue

Time flew by, and two months passed in the blink of an eye. Oscar's Soul Power had already reached the middle stage of Level 23.

After absorbing that piece of Whale Rubber, Oscar had been just a sliver away from breaking through Level 23. After returning to the academy and cultivating in seclusion for a week, he naturally made the breakthrough.

Ma Hongjun's Soul Power had also risen from the early stage of Level 14 to the late stage. Although he had not broken through to Level 15, his progress was still considerable.

Unfortunately, two months had passed, yet Flender had found no news of Whale Rubber. After all, in this era, it was not considered anything valuable, and no one knew its true worth. It was only natural for it to be scarce.

Thus, Flender had begun considering taking Shrek Academy's teachers out to sea. With a group of Soul Saints and Soul Emperors like them, obtaining a few pieces of Whale Rubber should not be much of a problem.

Today also happened to be Oscar's ninth birthday, which meant that at only nine years old, his strength had already reached Level 23.

Not only had he set a record in Shrek Academy's history, he had also set a record for Food System Soul Masters, and perhaps even for the entire Spirit Master World.

On Oscar's birthday, the academy's teachers all put aside their work and arranged a packed day of celebration for him.

That morning, Shao Xin prepared a lavish breakfast, and Oscar ate to his heart's content.

After breakfast, Zhao Wuji gave Oscar a full Combo of training.

That was right, training. This was Shrek Academy's tradition, making Oscar suffer and enjoy himself at the same time.

By the time the training ended, it was already noon. Yet they did not immediately head to the Cafeteria for lunch.

It was then that Oscar realized he had not seen Flender at all that morning. In previous years, Flender always prepared a gift for him on his birthday. Yet today, he was nowhere to be seen.

And it was not just today. Flender had been gone for over half a month. He had not shown up even on Oscar's birthday. Who knew what he had gone off to do?

When Oscar asked Zhao Wuji, the man merely laughed it off and claimed he did not know. But Old Zhao was terrible at lying. He definitely knew what Flender had gone to do; he simply did not want to say.

Just as Oscar was feeling puzzled, Flender returned. Standing beside him was a thin middle-aged man about the same height as him.

The middle-aged man looked somewhat younger than Flender. With sword-like brows and starry eyes, he was exceptionally handsome. Simply standing there, he gave off an indescribable feeling.

It was as though he were a sword—a cold sword.

At the sight of him, Zhao Wuji strode forward in his carefree manner to greet him, while the other teachers of Shrek Academy did not recognize him at all.

"Brother Gai Yue, you finally decided to leave the mountains!" Zhao Wuji said as he approached the middle-aged man and patted his shoulder.

Gai Yue gave Zhao Wuji a slight nod. "Brother Zhao."

Although Gai Yue did not seem particularly warm, Zhao Wuji did not mind, as if he were already accustomed to it.

This only made Oscar even more confused.

Looking back through the original story, he had never seen anyone like this associated with Shrek Academy. Gai Yue? Afraid that he might have missed something, Oscar carefully recalled the original story, only to find that there truly had been no such person.

Still, now that he knew this man was not a teacher at Shrek Academy, perhaps he simply had no interaction with the protagonist group in the original story. It was normal for him not to have been mentioned.

After all, the original story had only been told from the protagonist group's perspective. Now that Oscar was in this real world, it was hardly strange for him to encounter unusual people.

While Oscar was lost in thought, Flender had already pulled Gai Yue over and begun introducing him to Shrek Academy's teachers.

Gai Yue had an icy temperament. He was like this even toward Flender and Zhao Wuji, who seemed to be his good friends, so Shrek's other teachers merely exchanged simple greetings with him.

Then Flender waved at Oscar. "Xiao Ao, come here."

Hearing Flender call him, Oscar finally came back to himself and walked over.

When he reached Flender, Oscar noticed that this Uncle Gai Yue had been studying him the entire time, as if trying to see through him.

Oscar disliked that gaze, but Gai Yue was Flender's friend, so he made no unnecessary moves. Still, he stood firm.

"Dean, what is it?" Oscar asked.

Flender smiled mysteriously. "Today is your birthday. I prepared a birthday gift for you, but whether you can get it will depend on your own ability."

Hearing that, Oscar shot Flender a puzzled look. It was as if he were saying, Where is it? At least take the damn thing out so I can decide whether I want it!

Noticing Oscar's expression, Flender leaned close to his ear and said quietly, "Didn't you want to cultivate the sword path? The man beside me may not compare to that Sword Douluo, Chen Xin, but he is absolutely outstanding on the path of the sword. If you can earn his approval, he can stay and become your swordsmanship teacher. Make good use of this opportunity."

Oscar's eyes suddenly lit up at Flender's words. At last, he understood why Flender had vanished for more than half a month. Perhaps he had gone looking for this man?

Given Oscar's intelligence, it was not hard for him to realize that Flender had specifically sought out this swordsmanship teacher for him. Perhaps it was because of guilt toward Oscar? Or perhaps it was simply care.

Whatever the reason, Oscar was truly moved at that moment.

So this was Shrek, wasn't it? Why had the original story not shown these things? It had only described how many monster students Shrek Academy had accepted since its founding, and how many had died.

These sincere feelings were what touched Oscar the most. Whether it was Flender, the dean, or Li Yusong and Lu Qibin, everyone at Shrek quietly gave so much for Shrek's students.

Oscar nodded seriously. "Dean, don't worry."

Then Flender whispered a few more words into Gai Yue's ear before directly leaving Oscar and Gai Yue alone.

Gai Yue looked at Oscar and asked flatly, "Is there a Training Ground?"

Oscar nodded. "The academy has a Spirit Dueling Platform. I'll take you there."

Gai Yue nodded and said nothing more. Flender, Old Zhao, and the others watched as Oscar led Gai Yue toward the Spirit Dueling Platform in the square. They pretended not to care, but once the two were out of sight, several teachers quietly followed after them with Ma Hongjun in tow.

Oscar walked ahead of Gai Yue, showing none of the awkwardness of meeting someone for the first time. As they walked, he asked, "Senior, does your sword path focus on killing and offense, or on speed and the Agile Attack System?"

Although Oscar did not understand the sword path, having read the original story, he knew that sword paths in this world were also divided into types because of martial souls.

For example, Chen Xin cultivated the Seven Kill Sword, a sword focused on slaughter and offense. The Wind Sword Sect, one of the Lower Four Sects, cultivated Agile Attack System wind swords centered on speed.

Gai Yue actually froze for a moment upon hearing the question. He had not expected a child who had just turned nine to ask such a thing.

Still, he answered, "Killing."

Those two simple words from Gai Yue's mouth completely satisfied Oscar.

The reason was naturally that Oscar's Azure Spirit Jade Sword was better suited to a sword path focused on slaughter and offense, rather than the Agile Attack System.

As for Gai Yue's cultivation level, Oscar did not need to ask at all. Since Flender had invited him and treated him with such respect, he was at least a Soul Saint.

Although a Soul Saint might seem like nothing according to the original story, this was not the era twenty years later, when titled Douluos were everywhere and Soul Douluos were as common as dogs. In this era, a Soul Saint still carried considerable authority.

Besides, Oscar felt that a Soul Saint was more than enough to serve as his swordsmanship teacher. It was not as though they could really find him a Sword Douluo.

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